Newport Beach Film Festival

Volunteers interested in helping with this year's Newport Beach Film Festival can attend orientation meetings over the next two weeks. Meeting times are 3 to 5 p.m. Saturday for returning volunteers only, with the remaining dates for new and returning volunteers: 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, 2 to 4 p.m. April 5, 6 to 8 p.m. April 8 and 9, and 10 a.m. to noon April 12. All meetings are held at the old City Hall at 32nd Street and Newport...

The Newport Beach Film Festival announced the recipients of nearly 50 awards Thursday, the end of the eight-day festival, including the first ever MacGillivray Freeman Films Awards. The closing-night film, "A Beginner's Guide to Endings," directed by Jonathan Sobol, was named by the Jury Awards as Best Feature Film, according to the news release. The film also won in the same category for Best Screenplay and Best Cinematographer. The jury panel consisted of Academy Award-nominated costume designer Deborah Nadoolman Landis, cinematographer Eric Roizman, Emmy Award-winning producer, writer and director Mary Lou Belli, creator of the Showtime's Soul Food series, Felicia D. Henderson, producer, writer and director Amanda Pope and UC Irvine Extension Director of Continuing Education Kirwan Rockefeller.

For Charlie Darby, love is intimately linked with lunacy. From the outside, the grade-school principal in the movie "Lovesick" - played by actor Matt LeBlanc - has everything: a great circle of friends, a supportive family and a satisfying job. All that's missing is a relationship. He seems to have trouble in that department because while he is perfectly sane, it's a different story when he falls in love. Although not biographical, the story is based loosely on the experiences of Bel Air-based writer Dean Young.

Jon Favreau was right - it's an exceptionally bad idea to watch "Chef" on an empty stomach. Slow-cooked cured meats, golden-brown grilled cheese sandwiches, sugar-sprinkled beignets and undeniably delicious-looking Cuban sandwiches drew murmurs of appreciation from all who watched his latest project Thursday. But the "Wolf of Wall Street," "Elf" and "Swingers" actor doesn't consider himself a foodie. Although he enjoys eating, he won't necessarily hunt down restaurants in different cities or work his free time to be able to taste different types of preparations.

Ballots from the 15th annual Newport Beach Film Festival have been turned in and accounted for. While the selection committee reviewed more than 2,000 submissions, viewers watched over 400 films from 50 countries. Each movie competed for honors in three categories: Jury Awards, voted on by a panel of film experts and industry insiders; Festival Honors, given by the event's staff; and Audience Awards, determined by ballots from filmgoers. Here's a roundup of this year's victors: *JURY AWARDS Best Feature Film: "The Sublime and Beautiful" Best Actor: Blake Robbins, "The Sublime and Beautiful" Best Actress: Aunjanue Ellis, "Una Vida" Best Director: Blake Robbins, "The Sublime and Beautiful" Best Cinematography: Lyn Moncrief, "The Sublime and Beautiful" Best Screenplay: Jason Strouse, "Teacher of the Year" Special Jury Prize for Actress in a Feature Film: Laura Kirk, "The Sublime and Beautiful" Special Jury Prize for Cinematography of a Feature Film: Patrick Jones, "The Last Lonely Place" Best Documentary: "The Honest Liar" Special Jury Prize for Documentary Film: "Who Took Johnny" Best Narrative Short Film: "Mr. Invisible" Best Documentary Short Film: "Aerodrome Best Animated Short Film: "Rabbit and Deer" Special Jury Prize for Animated Short Film: "Rhino Full Throttle" * 2014 FESTIVAL HONORS Feature Film: "Break Point," "Fort...

Charlie Anderson only smoked for two years, but when he made up his mind to quit, the habit was hard to shake. So he talked about his problems - to the cigarettes themselves. "I would put a cigarette out there, right in front of me in plain sight, and every time I got the urge, I would sometimes pick it up and act like I was, you know, I would threaten the cigarette," Anderson said. "'I'm in control here, not you.'" That image stayed in Anderson's mind, even as he neared two decades without a smoke.

Phil Schaff and the rest of the filmmaking crew and cast for "Don't Quit: The Joe Roth Story," didn't really know what to expect with regard to reception and attendance when the documentary made its debut Sunday. The powerful film about the talented Cal quarterback, who's life was cut short because of melanoma, was part of the Newport Beach Film Festival and screened at Lido Theater. There was also a reception at Bluewater Grill down the street, where Schaff and the rest of those connected with the film reveled in the success of it. Everyone knew it was a story that had to be told.

Millie Tanner, a 16-year-old sophomore at Sage Hill School, showed excitement Sunday morning at the Fashion Island Cinema. She left with mixed emotions, mostly positive, after watching the documentary: "Half the Road: The Passion, pitfalls & power of women's professional cycling. " She has a small, but meaningful part in the documentary, which is among the movies in the Newport Beach Film Festival. The documentary details the inequalities for women in pro cycling. "The discrimination from men to women in cycling has become very big," Tanner said, speaking into a microphone in front of a couple dozen people in a theater after the film ended.

All it takes is one look at Thomas Castets for people to arrive at a conclusion - he must have a girlfriend. The sun-kissed surfer is then forced to drop somewhat of a bomb on them. "People just assume I'm straight," Castets, 36, said. "So every time I meet someone I have to disappoint them by saying, 'Actually, I'm not straight. I have a boyfriend.' We need to make this less of a drama, less of a surprise and less of something that is rare. " This shock factor is painfully evident among surfers, the Frenchman remarked.

While wading through his personal archive of film footage, Quiet Riot drummer Frankie Banali came upon a snippet of the band horsing around offstage. On the soundtrack, lead singer Kevin DuBrow can be heard boasting, "This is gonna be in a Quiet Riot movie in the theaters someday. I don't know how far in the future. " That footage was shot in 1983, and the "someday" that DuBrow promised has finally arrived. "Well Now You're Here, There's No Way Back," a documentary about the heavy metal band's history, is set to have its world premiere April 29 at the Newport Beach Film Festival.